Packet networking is a form of data communication in which data packets are routed from a source device to a destination device. Packets can be networked directly between a source node and a destination node, or the packets can be relayed through a number of intermediate nodes.
A wireless network can include a wireless device being connected to a network through a base station that is wired to the network. The wireless device can transmit data packets that are received by the base station and then routed through the network. The wireless network can include many base stations that are each wired to the network.
Wireless mesh networks can include many different wireless routing paths between access nodes of the mesh networks. The quality of the routing paths can vary greatly between access nodes of the mesh networks. Additionally, the quality of the routing paths can vary over time as transmission characteristics of the routing wireless paths vary over time.
A network manager could utilize wireless routing path information to determine desirable network configurations. Network configurations can include physical placements of the nodes, and the number of nodes included within the network.
It is desirable to have a wireless mesh network that can continually analyze the quality of routing paths through the wireless mesh network and convey the quality of the routing paths to a network manager. Additionally, it is desirable that the network be able to provide suggestions to the network manager regarding configurations of the network.